Week 15, Jitterbug Perfume, Daffy Yum
JITTERBUG PERFUME
Week 15, Jan. 12– Jan. 18
Page 99
Curious reader seeks confirmation from whisker-growing types re: the following. "It is said that when a man is anticipating sexual activity, his whiskers grow at an accelerated rate."Querent will check own moustache in future for corresponding condition among females.- Carol
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Mary, that is so interesting, because the first Tom Robbins book I read was also given to me by a stranger. It was 1979, and I was working in New York City, commuting by bus to my home in New Jersey. One day, I was sitting on the bus on the way home, reading one of Castaneda's Don Juan books, when I heard a deep, soft voice beside me say "Do you believe in Don Juan?" The next morning, the attractive, bearded stranger handed me a copy of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (which I still have). On the inside cover, he had written "Here's a book that's a friend of mine --having enjoyed the few moments that now have brought forth pen and rhyme...Hoping that you'll enjoy this tale of a cowgirl and her thumbs and the prospects they entail...don' t wear sneakers, if you won't dance a polka... After that morning, my commuting companion was no longer a stranger, and neither was Tom Robbins. Back to Jitterbug Perfume, I was taken by the paragraph starting with "Kudra had awakened him from a long sleep." Ending with "If the earth needs night as well as day wouldn't it follow that the soul requires endarkenment to balance enlightenment? " What a fascinating observation! I agree that there are times we must root around in the muck if we want to enjoy a beautiful lotus.
Gemcaccetta
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Page 102
Yes, this 'kizz', as you call it is unknown in the west. A rather odd sensation, but one I would not object to repeating. I have an open mind."You need only open your mouth not your mind, she thought. But she said, "Then why do you spurn me?"This is one of several instances to follow where TR shows us in italics what the character is thinking, before telling us what the character actually says. This is so true and so funny...like in Woody Allen's Annie Hall, when he and Diane Keaton are on the balcony, having one conversation while subtitles show us what they're really thinking. Humans can be so silly.Gem
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Page 104
I loved hearing Kudra's internal dialogue too, Gem, especially the tone of it in reaction to this very macho man. It reminded me a little of Amanda's attitude toward Marx Marvelous-- loving but amused.As Gauguiin wrote at the end of his life, "I wish I had been born a pig. Only man can be ridiculous." I'm assuming he wasn't talking about male chauvinist pigs. On page 104, Robbins talks about the effect of the kizz on Alobar's "unpracticed Western lips". I remember a girl talked about a guy who wasn't a skilled kisser as "he dove at my face with his lips." But I think she taught him better as Kudra is doing for Alobar. Kizz me baby!Dale, silly human
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Page 105
Kudra is inspired by Alobar's stories. Alobar is inspired to pursue her by her vagina dialogues. Kinda sexist in a way, but realistic in a way that only fantasy can portray.I believe it was ARA and Jitterbug Perfume that cured me of any monastic desires. They did teach me a lot about the important difference between detachment and indifference.I liked Ken Keyes' (of Handbook of Higher Consciousness fame) idea that it helps if one reframes "needs" as "preferences" It helps a little with detachment and, I think, the skillful attainment of desires.
Dale
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Yes! "I always remember that I have everything I need to enjoy my here and now--unless I am letting my consciousness be dominated by demands and expectations based on the dead past or imagined future."-Ken Keyes. The 12 Pathways never go out of style! As Kudra says, "To eliminate the agitation and disappointment of desire, we need but awaken to the fact that we have everything we want and need right now." Great minds think alike!
Gem
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Good quotation juxtaposition, Gem! Ah, the 12 pathways. I once had them memorized and repeated them often like some long-assed mantra. Lot of wisdom in those, I think. Are you a Living Love student?There's a good page on the pathways at http://mindprod. com/livinglove/ methods/pathways .htmlKeyes also wrote a book called Enjoy Your Life in Spite of it All. I wonder if he and Robbins influenced each other.Dale
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Thanks for the link, Dale! I read Handbook to Higher Consciousness in the late 70's, and the 12 Pathways have been part of my life ever since. The Conscious Person's Guide to Relationships also continues to be invaluable. Although I never took any courses per se, I definitely adopted the Living Love way into my life. It certainly sounds like Robbins was influenced by Keyes work, doesn't it?
Gem
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